Tri-County Baseball · Western Massachusetts · Est. 1929
Pools & Spas
Bank
Toth's Grand Slam Caps a Six-Run Sixth as Teddy Bear Eliminates PeoplesBank, 9–2
Magni goes seven strong, Toth drives in five, as the Bears upset the 12-time reigning champs
Mike Toth stood in against a PeoplesBank pitcher in the sixth inning at South Hadley High School on Tuesday night with the bases loaded, Teddy Bear Pools and Spas clinging to a one-run lead, and the season on the line for both clubs. What happened next ended any remaining suspense: Toth put a ball over the left-field wall for a grand slam, added it to the run he'd already driven home with a fifth-inning double, and Teddy Bear walked off with a 9–2 playoff victory over the team that had owned the Tri-County League for more than a decade.
It was a tense game until the sixth. PeoplesBank's Clark led off the very first inning with a solo home run to center, announcing that the defending powers weren't coming to South Hadley to concede anything. Teddy Bear answered methodically — Willie Landman doubled in the third to tie it at one, Alex Gochinski singled in the fourth to push ahead 2–1 — but Planter singled down the left-field line in the fifth to knot it back up at two. Back and forth, neither side willing to blink, the kind of playoff game that earns its reputation in the early innings.
Then the sixth happened. Ray Toth — Mike's teammate — opened the inning with a solo home run to left. Matt Drobiak followed with a sacrifice fly. And then Mike Toth stepped in with the bases loaded and settled the matter with one swing, his grand slam putting Teddy Bear ahead 9–2 and effectively closing the book on PeoplesBank's season. Six runs in one inning, three separate RBI moments, and a lineup that rose to the occasion when the moment demanded it most.
Ryan Magni was the backbone of the pitching effort, working all seven innings and allowing just two runs on nine hits while striking out eight and walking one. It was a workhorse performance — not spotless, but thoroughly effective for a playoff setting. Jachym absorbed the loss for PeoplesBank, lasting six innings and surrendering nine runs, seven of them earned, on eight hits.
Gochinski and Mike Toth each collected two hits for Teddy Bear, while Clark, Hogan, and Planter each went 2-for-the-night for PeoplesBank. For PeoplesBank, a dynasty run stretching well over a decade comes to a close — not easily, not without a fight, but definitively.
Teddy Bear Pools and Spas now advance to the TCL Championship Finals, where they will meet St. Joseph's Saints beginning Thursday night in Palmer.
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